Each AP Physics course culminates in an optional exam for which high-performing students may receive some credit towards their college coursework, depending on which college or university they attend.[1]

AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2 were introduced for the 2015 exam administration.[4] The courses were designed to emphasize critical thinking and reasoning as well as learning through inquiry.[5] They remain as algebra-based courses that do not require students to have taken calculus.[6]

AP Physics 1 covers the same Newtonian mechanics as AP Physics B plus rotational mechanics, as well as an introduction to electricity (Coulomb's Law and simple DC circuits), and mechanical waves and sound.[6]